Allegheny County hits U.S. Steel with $1.9M fine over Clairton Coke Works emissions

Allegheny County officials Monday hit North America’s largest coke-manufacturing facility — which is also the county’s top source of air pollution — with a $1.9 million fine for uncontrolled emissions.

It’s the third-largest penalty levied against U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works in the past five years.

The fines stem from the 123-year-old plant violating rules for “uncontrolled pushes” 362 times between March 16, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2023, according to the Allegheny County Health Department.

Two years ago, county officials fined U.S. Steel $4.5 million for 831 violations for “uncontrolled pushes” between January 2020 and March 2022.

Violations for “uncontrolled pushes” occur when coke, a component used in steelmaking, is mechanically pushed from an oven into a traveling car, then taken to a quench station where it is cooled with water, according to health department documents. During “normal operation,” a fume collection hood is connected to a fan to curb emissions.

“Process and equipment failures” at the plant led coke emissions to drift into Mon Valley air without being filtered properly, the health department said.

Monday’s fine also comes on the heels of another seven-figure penalty levied against the Pittsburgh-based steel giant.

In late December, the Allegheny County Health Department fined U.S. Steel more than $2.2 million for repeatedly violating state emission standards.

The steelmaker has appealed that fine, its 10th pollution-related penalty since 2018, and it intends to appeal the latest one, spokeswoman Amanda Malkowski said.

“During the extensive time period covered by the order, U. S. Steel made improvements to pushing control equipment and improved reliability,” Malkowski told TribLive. “To date, we have achieved a compliance rate greater than 99.9% throughout nearly 400,000 pushes.”

Malkowski added that U.S. Steel “has made good faith efforts to work collaboratively” with county officials. She also said that “environmental excellence is a top priority at all of our facilities.”

“The enforcement action speaks for itself, and we have no further comment,” said Abigail Gardner, spokeswoman for County Executive Sara Innamorato.

The head of a Regent Square-based environmental group said Monday it was “in no way shocked by this news.”

“U.S. Steel has been a bad neighbor for decades, and this is just the latest chapter in how the company continues to fail the communities in which it operates,” Patrick Campbell, director of Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP), told TribLive.

“This is the eighth enforcement action the Allegheny County Health Department has issued against U.S. Steel in just the past two years — that’s a pathetic record,” he added. “Allegheny County residents, especially those in the Mon Valley, deserve better.”

The $1.9 million fine represents about one-fifth of 1% of the $895 million in profits U.S. Steel netted in 2023.

Earlier this month, TribLive wrote about the frustrations experienced by clean-air advocates because of the coke works’ chronic emissions violations.